Introduction to the International Phonetic Alphabet

The Cambridge Dictionary uses the symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to show pronunciation in writing. You can recognize these pronunciations by the slashes before and after, for example, /pen/. You can also click on the icons to listen

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standard written representation for the soun

Phonetic symbols are visual representations of speech sounds, designed to describe the way words are pronounced. They are used to transcribe spoken language and make it easier to study and teach pronunciation.

This page allows you to easily type phonetic transcriptions of English words in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). You can edit your text in the box and then copy it to your document, e-mail message, etc.

音标符号集合，包含国际音标符号、英语音标符号、声调符号、重音符号、连音符号、变音符号、辅音符号、元音符号、语音符号、组合音标符号、特殊音标符号及更多音标符号

An essential function of the IPA is to provide a standard for labeling these phonemes so that linguists can discuss any sound without ambiguity. In 1886 a group of French and British language teachers teamed up to create a new organization for linguists.

Symbols to the right in a cell are voiced, to the left are voiceless. Shaded areas denote articulations judged impossible. Affricates and double articulations can be represented by two symbols joined by a tie bar if necessary. Some diacritics may be place